The 2014 Belout College Mindset List in which students entering this fall’s college class of 2014 talked about their cultural norms has been all over the Internet.

In the list the students said, among other thing, e-mail was too slow, they don’t use cursive and find wristwatches obsolete since they use cell phones to tell time.

It got me thinking about the cultural norms with which I grew up and about which my son (entering third grade) has no awareness.

*8-track tapes - He knows about cassettes because he listens to Beach Boys on them in his Grandmother’s car and he knows about LPs because it’s become retro and cool to play the old discs and we actually still have a turntable. But those old 8-tracks never existed for him. He gave me a funny look when I explained that some even switched tracks in the middle of a song!

*typewriters - Talk about dinosaurs. My son has never even seen one of these. It’s hard to believe a friend of mine once actually made a living repairing typewriters - and I actually had one fixed.

*corded phones - Those old Princess phones are pretty much antiques at this point. Since my son was born we’ve always had a cordless phone for our landline and now we are seriously considering getting rid of that and just having cells. The almost total ubiquity of cell phones was clear when we were watching we an old movie in which the hero was in a car accident and goes looking for a phone to call for help, when my son asked “why doesn’t he use his cell phone?”

Which takes me to:*telephone booths - Once on every corner, these are few and far between. Try explaining to your kid about the Superman of yore and how he changed in phone booths. So where does Superman change for today’s kids?

*slide projectors, home movies and screens - Long before slide shows were series of pictures online, we would stretch out on the floor at my grandparent’s house, my grandfather would roll out the big white screen and start showing those old Kodachrome slides. It was a family event, as was watching old grainy home movies on the same screen. I have long since had the old home movies transferred to digital and my son’s first comment when I showed them on the TV - why is there no sound?

*negatives and film cameras - This one is especially nostalgic for me. I took photography in college and spent hours in the darkroom developing prints in chemicals. There was something exciting and romantic about watching an image magically appear on the photographic paper. My son who already has his own digital camera and takes pictures indiscriminately because he can easily delete the bad ones will never know that wonder.

*transistor radios - Before I-pods and even Walkmans (which my son doesn’t know about either) I spent my teen days with one one these tinny little radios glued to my ear listening to the top 40 on AM radio. Now AM is the desert of talk radio and music is on FM and satellite.

*black and white TV and test patterns - My son can’t imagine that once TVs didn’t come exclusively in color. We saw a production of Schoolhouse Rock Live that started with a giant TV with a test pattern on it. What’s that funny design? he asked. I explained at one time TV actually wasn’t on 24 hours and when it signed off they played the national anthem and then showed a test pattern. Of course I only had 8 channels back them too.

*dial up - I remember being one of the first to have Compuserve and excitedly telling friends about this cool new thing called the internet where you could look up all sorts of information on the computer. My son has never know anything but DSL.

While I may be nostalgic about some of these changes, there are others I’m really glad about.My son has never known smoking in restaurants or other public places. And last week while were on vacation, a band played “Margaritaville” and my son asked me to explain the line about stepping on a “pop top.” Can’t say I miss that either.

Uncle Rock, the kid's musician who has toured with a cult garage band and starred in a stage musical in London's West End, returns to the Banana Factory, 25 W. Third St. Bethlehem to kick off the second season of KidTunes, ArtsQuest's new monthly children's music series.

The musician, aka Robert Burke Warren, will be featured along with a kids' band formed by a member of the Flamin Caucasians and a Bethlehem musician who hit it big when her yoga-inspire song was picked up for a Dell Computer commercial for the once-a-month Saturday morning concert series.

Uncle Rock who rocked out kids at Musikfest with rockin' tunes from his new CD "The Big Picture" as well as his cover of "Magic Carpet Ride" which was featured on the new Putumayo CD Rock & Roll Playground, will perform at 11 a.m. Sept. 11.

Uncle Rock, as Warren, toured Europe with the adult band The Fleshtones and played the lead in "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story," before turning to kids music after his son Jack was born in 1998.

Warren says he writes songs about "the darker side of childhood," and his lyrics are inspired by children's authors who have "lots of layers and shades," such as Shel Silverstein and Maurice Sendak.

His son, Jack, now 12, often joins his father on stage singing at concerts.

The next two groups are both making their debut in the Lehigh Valley

Erin Lee & the Up Past Bedtime Band will perform at 11 a.m. Oct. 9. Lee, an actress and early childhood music specialist from New York, performed in musicals, plays and films before deciding to focus on writing children's music. She and the four-person Up Past Bedtime Band's original songs reflect a kid's eye view of the world that is both poignant and laugh-out-loud funny.

We Kids Rock, a group formed by singer/songwriter/musician Bill Currier, a member of the Flamin’ Caucasians, will perform at 11 a.m. Nov. 13.

The band which has released three CDs, “Everybody Clap Your Hands,” Let the Sun Shine” and “There’s a Train,” invites children to be part of the show by singing, clapping, dancing and playing rhythm instruments. The band also presents educational music programs for infants through 5-year olds at locations in the Philadelphia area and Delaware.

Kira Willey of Bethlehem started a music-based yoga prorgam for kids called Fireflies Yoga and wrote yoga-inspired tunes for her debut CD "Dance for the Sun." When Willey's song "Colors" was picked to be featured on Dell’s laptop ad campaign in 2008, the exposure brought worldwide attention to her music which is now in frequent rotation on XM/Sirius Radio. She is working on her second CD, and her concerts incorporate yoga poses with the music. She will perform at 11 a.m. Dec. 12.

I told my wife it was the closest thing a man could ever feel to being pregnant without all the painful symptoms.

There I was strolling around Wal-Mart with what I called my “daddy sack” – you know, those strap-on baby carriers. My baby boy’s feet dangled from it as his face rested on my chest. His arms were tucked inside. I zippered up my coat to the back of his neck to keep him warmer.

I was no daddy sack rookie. The same carrier and coat were used to snuggle up my daughter just 20 or so months earlier.

So I was listening to my son’s deep, relaxed breaths while strolling along with my wife and daughter when the buzz kill entered my personal space.

“You know that could suffocate your child,” the old lady said. “You could go to jail for that.”

Startled, I told her I’ve carried my kids this way several times and assured her it was safe. I was too nice. I should have told her off.

And God forbid something did happen to one of my kids, did she really think going to jail would have been the worst part? I would have been in my own prison for life.

Some nerve she had.

That’s probably why I held my tongue recently when I saw a woman in a store grab her son’s wrist tightly, violently yank him toward her and spank his butt hard three times with pure rage in her eyes. The boy looked about 2- or 3-years-old.

I got the belt as a kid, so I’m no stranger to a good old-fashioned punishment, but this one seemed particularly disturbing given the child’s age and the mother’s anger.

I almost said something. Almost.

So when is it time to correct a parent? Is it ever?

I certainly didn’t like what the out-of-touch, misinformed old lady said to me in Wal-Mart.

What if a woman slapped her 13-month-old baby in a plane like that lady did last week on a Southwest Airlines jet. The flight attendant, Beverly McCurley, took the baby away after witnesses complained. Would you have done that if you were a flight attendant? Seems a bit bold, although I have to say the woman’s excuse that she slapped her baby because she kicked the mother is beyond weak.

There I am, stopped at the post office after a few hours of running errands and I look back to find both kids sleeping in their car seats.

“You could just leave them sleeping real peacefully,” the devil on my shoulder says with a grin. “You can just lock the doors, walk backwards into the post office, quickly grab the mail from the PO box and be right back.”

But I just can’t do it.

I usually end up returning to the post office at another time instead of trudging into the building with one sleeping child on each shoulder.

Then there’s the grocery store. When I shop, the first thing I do upon my return is put my kids back in their car seats. At 4 and 2, they’re too young to help me load the groceries and standing (or running around) in the parking lot is obviously not an option.

If my wife is with me, there’s nothing to worry about. When she’s not, I’m presented with two options: 1) Lock all doors and jog to the cart drop-off backwards while never looking away from the car or 2) Be an annoying shopper and leave the cart next to my car, risking it bumping into another car.

I always choose option One.

One thing I’ll never do is leave the kids in an unlocked car. And I’ll never, ever leave them in a running car no matter where I am or how far away I go.

Wen Lin of Allentown learned that lesson the hard way earlier this month when his car was stolen at the Little Apple Market on Seventh Street in the city. The 37-year-old said he wanted to keep his daughter cool as he grabbed a shopping cart. Two men swooped in and stole the car.

His 6-year-old daughter, Megan, was found safe about 90 minutes later a short distance away after the thieves ditched the car, police said.

Imagine what that 90 minutes must have felt like for both the girl and the father. Hauling my sleeping kids through the post office suddenly doesn’t seem so bad.

The same thing happened in December 2001 when a 2-year-old girl was driven away in her mom’s car by a thief at an Airport Road convenience store. The car was running and left unlocked. Are you kidding, lady?

In both cases the kids were unharmed and the thieves apparently didn’t know the kids were in the car.

Is there ever an OK time to leave you kids in the car? Have you ever done it and been scolded by a passerby? Have you ever yelled at someone for doing it?

On the heals of the San Francisco’s plans to ban the toys in Happy Meals and other kids meals, a watchdog group has released a list of the five worst fast food kids meals in America.

Is anyone surprised that McDonald’s tops the list with its Mighty Kids Meal? With 840 calories, 37 grams of fat, and nearly 1,500 milligrams of sodium, this heart-unhealthy meal provides as much sodium as a child should consume in an entire day and 85 percent of the daily recommended calories for a toddler and 60 percent of the recomended calories of a first-graders.

The list is based on analysis by dietitians at the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and also slams meals from Wendy's, KFC, A&W, and Burger King's just-released BK Kids Breakfast Meal. All five of the worst fast-food kids meals are high in fat, cholesterol, and sodium. None would meet the nutritional standards for healthful children's lunches created last year by the Institute of Medicine.

In West Africa, every child knows the folkloric tales of Anansi, the clever spider-man. The trickster character appears in numerous stories in which he tries to outsmart others and is sometimes himself outsmarted.

Dark Horse Theater, a Bethlehem-based children's theater company, will present an interactive adaptation of "Anansi!" based on several of the traditional tales at 11 a.m. Saturday in Bethlehem.

The company, which was founded by Lori Sivick and Rob Adams, has been performing plays for schools in Bethlehem for 15 years. In May, Adams, 41, suffered a torn aorta and was hospitalized. He is now recovering.

After visiting Adams in the hospital, Sivick decided to stage a public performance of "Anansi," which was the 2009-10 school show, at Pennsylvania Playhouse, Illicks Mill Road, as a fundraiser for Adams.

The 50-minute show includes five Anansi stories, including "Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock" and "Anansi and the Pot of Beans." Sivick and her daughters Aria, 13 and Amelia, 11, play Anansi and his jungle friends, including a bear, monkey and wolf. The show will include lots of audience participation and singalongs with African music.

STINKY CHEESE MAN Jon Szieska's book "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stoopid Tales" gets a musical retelling by Pennsylvania Youth Theatre students Friday and Saturday at the Ice House in Bethlehem.

This wacky musical deconstructs some of the best known fairy tales with hilarious results. Besides the title story, loosely based on the story of the Gingerbread Man; the show also tells the slightly skewed stories of "Cinderumplestiltskin," "The Other Frog Prince" and "The Really Ugly Duckling."

Performances will be at 7 p.m. Friday and 1 and 4 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $9 and available at the door or in advance at www.123pyt.org or 610-332-1400.

OVERNIGHT AT THE ZOOAs summer is coming too quickly to an end, take advantage of the still nice weather with an overnight camp Saturday and Sunday at the Lehigh Valley Zoo, 5150 Game Preserve Road, Schnecksville.Parents and children ages 4 and older can bring their own tent to pitch on the zoo grounds or just throw down a sleeping bag in the zoo's Bison Auditorium.

Explore the zoo after the sun goes down. Discover the nighttime activities of nocturnal species such as the Canadian Lynx and the Mongoose Lemur. Activities include a guided zoo tour and nature hike, owl calling and animal encounters. Kids can even help feed the animals their morning hay. Snacks and breakfast is included.

The adventure will be 5:30 p.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday. The cost is $33 per person.Info: www.lvzoo.org or 610-799-4171.

KIDS DAY AT THE PROMENADE Enjoy fire trucks, police cruisers, costumed characters and more at Kids Day, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Saturdday Aug. 21 at The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley. There will also be plenty of activities and specials your kids can enjoy at no charge.

Bring three used children's books for the Project Bookshelf book drive and get a dessert from Pandini and a fun band as a thank you.

Emergency equipment will be on display on the street in between Old Navy & Barnes & Noble. at 11 a.m. kids can watch the raising of a giant 20 foot by 30 foot a American Flag.

Meet the mascots Maggie the Cow from Maggie Moo's, Red from Red Robin, Nesquik Bunny from Nestle Toll House Cafe, QuBot" from QNB Bank, Hoagie Man from Subway and others.

The day also includes a free moon bounce, train rides and games. TThe event is sponsored by Kiwanis Club of Southern Lehigh

Eight Lehigh Valley first and second graders got a rare opportunity Wednesday to chat with an astronaut on the International Space Station orbiting 1,200 miles above the surface of the earth.

The children who are summer campers at Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown asked Colonel Doug Wheelock questions including what food he liked to eat in space, what it felt like to float in space and if he could see other planets from the space station.

Wheelock, the NASA flight engineer who helped repair the station’s cooling system on Monday, talked to the students as part of Wednesday’s Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program from the Center. The students are in Da Vinci's Mission Milky Way summer camp for grades 1-2 and talked to the crew member during a ten minute window around 11:30 a.m.

The students who talked to the astronaut were Stephanie Dean, of Coplay; Andrew Mory of Emmaus; Stephen Ender of Center Valley; Brent Master and Hudson Peck of Macungie and Minerva Garcia, Valeria Garcia and Jace Figueroa, all of Allentown.

Nearly 80 students attending this week's summer camps watched the students ask questions of the Expedition 24 flight engineer.

The ARISS program is a cooperative venture of NASA, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), and other international space agencies that link students periodically to the space station. The program’s mission is to inspire an interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and to provide educational opportunities for curious minds of all ages to space exploration, space technologies, and amateur radio.

Wednesday’s contact with the International Space Station was made possible through a telebridge connection, which relayed a signal from the Da Vinci Science Center through the internet using amateur ratio station LU8YY in Argentina. LU8YY then relayed the signal to the international space station during the ten-minute window.

While many kids think of bee only in regards to their painful sting, honey bees actually are an essential part of our world, pollinating millions of crops and other plants.

Find out the wonders of the honey bee when Lehigh Valley Beekeepers Association invites families to a free educational event all about bees Saturday in Emmaus.

The fascinating structure of a beehive will be on display during the 2nd annual "National Honey Bee Awareness Day" 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21 at the Pool Wildlife Sanctuary.

The event which will be held rain or shine is part of a national grassroots effort to educate people about the honey bee.

Local beekeepers will man education centers where the family will learn about the short, but busy, life of a honey bee from a developing egg to their final days spent gathering the ingredients for honey. Learn about the progression of duties a honey bee performs within the hive from nursing developing larvae to builders to guards to foragers.

Displays will include a working colony with a queen bee, the beekeepers’ tools, information about pollination, how raw honey is extracted from the hive, a working apiary and a taste center of honey products. Families also will discover what they can do to attract and support honey bees through gardening.

Teresa Bryson, the Pennsylvania Honey Queen will be give out free honey candy and bee activity books to children.

The Lehigh Valley Beekeepers, with more than 100 members, was founded in 1921 and holds monthly educational meetings which are open to the public. Info: www.lehighvalleybeekeepers.org or call 610-346-7875.

I admit I don't like video games. It seems kids today spend way too much time sitting in front of a screen playing video games when they could be doing something else. Researchers say the excessive screen time is leading to obesity and health problems in youth.

I am also one of those high-minded moms who loves to expose her child to cultural opportunites. I love Musikfest with its vast offerings of musical styles, most of which are free. The Banana Island concerts for kids had some great acts this year, several of which we saw.

But every day we were at Musikfest, there was a siren call for my son luring him away from music. The PlayStation 3 trailer sat near the entrance to Festplatz where you couldn't miss it and my son was drawn to it like a moth to the flame. All he thought about was the free video games he could play at the trailer.

On Saturday, we heard a great high energy set from kindie rockers Starfish and then I mentioned the next band was coming up soon. But my so, to my surprise, said he had heard the band before and wasn't interested in staying. So we started to walk and as we neared Festplatz I realized my son had a hidden agenda. He had bagged on the band because he was itching to play video games.

I only let my son stay for a total of 15 minutes each time we visited Musikfest, but I saw older children camped out at video games for hours. Last year the PS3 trailer was only at Musikfest for part of the festival but this year it was there the entire time and it was packed.

I understand Playstation paid Musikfest for the opportunity to do this but how do video games fit in with a music festival? I realize you can say the same thing about other promo stands at Musikfest. But other commercial stands such as Sensodyne are once and done and don't detract unneccesarily from the point of the festival - the music.

Should schools start later to accommodate the sleeping habits of teens?

Some experts including several from the Help for Families panel say yes.

During the discussion for Tuesday’s column about getting teens back into a sleep routine for schools, the panelists surprised me by suggesting that schools should start later and end later to give teens a better chance to learn. And apparently they aren’t the only ones who feel this way.

“It’s a physiological development change,” says Denise Continenza of Penn State Extension. “There is a shift in adolescent’s circadian rhythm.”

Researchers say hormonal changes in adolescents cause them to have radical changes in their sleep wake cycle so they stay up later and sleep later.

“This is a very significant issue and sleep researchers are calling to alter start and end times to school,” says Rochelle Freedman of Project Child. “From a learning perspective most kids are sleep deprived. Learning potential in the morning is out the window. They learn optimally in the mid afternoon. We should just start school later.”

A study published in the July issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, found that starting school just thirty minutes later at a private high school in Rhode Island resulted in better moods, more alert, and less depressed students. Absences also declined.

About 200 students in grades 9 through 12 at St. George’s School in Newport filled out questionnaires after the school changed its start time from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in January 2009.

Students reported less daytime sleepiness, improved mood and depression symptoms, and increased interest and motivation to participate in academic and athletic activities. The experiment was so successful that the school kept the new starting time.

Sleep specialist have long known that the circadian rhythm of adolescents is different than that of either children or adults, says Dr. Heidi V. Connolly, chief of the division of pediatric sleep medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. There is as much as a two hour shift in sleep-wake cycles that occurs during puberty, she says.

Teens also need 9 1/4 hours Freedman says, more than adults. Fatigued teens also lead to increased obesity, car accidents and attention and memory problems.

The Help for Families panel says the current schedule is from our agrarian past when farm families woke up early and went to bed early. However most teens aren’t getting up at dawn to milk the cow or feed the chickens so maybe schools should reconsider the early start times to maximize the learning potential of our teens today.

San Francisco wants to ban toys from Happy Meals and other kids meals sold at McDonald's, Burger King and other chains unless the meals meet calorie and sodium limits. The legislation also would require fruit or vegetables in each meal, not a terrible thing actually. I'm no fan of the toys in meals. I've said before the playlands are a far bigger incentive for my son than the toys which, the few times we've gotten them, end up on the floor of our van forgotten within ten minutes. I consider the plastic toys that are made in China a waste of resources and pollution, filling our landfills. Now that my son is getting older and less entranced by the playlands, we rarely visit the Golden Arches.

But lots of other families do. Fast food restuarants sell $5.5 billion in kids meals annually and a market research report found 36 percent of kids under age 6 said the toy was the best part of their meal as opposed to 16 percent who liked the meal for the food. (No word on what the 48 percent said!) The $179 billion fast-food industry is watching with trepidation.

Supporters of the legislation says McDonald’s and other chains could continue to offer toys by making small changes to their foods offered in the meals. The new legislation would require any meals that offer toys to “contain fruits and vegetables, not exceed 600 calories or 200 calories for a single food item and must not have beverages that have excessive fat or sugar.”

Happy Meals have been under fire for some time. In April, Santa Clara, Calif., banned restaurants from offering toys with any meal that has more than 485 calories and in June, the Center for Science in the Public Interest threatened to sue the chain saying "using toys to lure small children into McDonald’s is unfair and deceptive marketing and is illegal under various state consumer protection laws."

Actually it’s kind of sad commentary on our junk food society that none of the Happy Meals can be designed to have fewer than 485 calories. The government recommends a 3-year-old's daily diet should total 1,000 calories and should include 1 cup vegetables, 1 cup fruit, 2 cups milk, and 2 ounces of protein. A Happy Meal of four chicken McNuggets, small French fries, and low-fat chocolate milk is 580 calories, more than half of a child's daily recommended calorie intake. A 6-year-old child needs about 1,400 calories a day. A Happy Meal with hamburger, small French fries and 1% low-fat chocolate milk is 680 calories, nearly half the daily requirement.

Of course neither option includes fruits or vegetables. In the chain’s defense they do offer Apple Dippers and Burger King offers Apple Fries which are healthier options. Maybe if the chains advertise that kids only get the toy if they get the fruit option, more kids would choose that.

The publisher is giving out the free ice cream as well as other goodies to celebrate the release of the fifth edition of the immensely popular Wimpy Kid series “The Ugly Truth” on Nov. 9.

The company also will donate more than 25,000 new books to First Book, a nonprofit organization that provides new books to children from low-income families.

The series which features cartoons as wella s text has been touted as helping get reluctant readers interested in reading. My son is a huge fan of the series and even has the “Do It Yourself” Wimpy Kid book in which he draws his own cartoons.

The series also won a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award, and books in the series have won numerous students and teachers awards and author and artist Jeff Kinney was named one of TIME magazine's most influential people in the world in 2009. A second movie of the serie is due for release March 2011.

Books by Jeff Kinney include Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book, and The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary.

First Book is an award-winning nonprofit organization that has provided more than 70 million new books to children from low-income families. To support First Book's mission to provide new books to children click on “Get Involved at www.firstbook.org. Any program serving children from low-income families can get free books for the children they serve and all of First Book's resources by registering with First Book at www.firstbook.org/register

Ray Leone has been a musician all his life, but his first foray into children's music was that ubiquitious
early childhood music program Kindermusik.

When Leone's who was a Kindermusik teacher was pregnant with their daughter, he would occasionally substitute for her teaching her class. Bored with the program's simple music, Leone started playing some Beatles and Rolling Stones for the tots and the little ones loved it.

"I got the idea to put together a real rock band for kids," Leone of Maplewood, NJ says. "I knew some other guys who were musicians. We had no intention of taking over the music world."

The new band dubbed Starfish went over well at birthday parties and libraries so the group recorded their debut album Starfish Rocks in 2008.

Children, especially those under age 2 may be at risk of getting sick from their own pet dogs’ and cats’ food dish.

An outbreak of salmonella infections linked to pet food from 2006 to 2008 sickened 79 people in 21 eastern states including Pennsylvania according to a government report released Monday. Half the victims were children 2 and younger.

The outbreak was blamed on salmonella bacteria found in several brands of dry dog and cat food including Ol Roy and Special Kitty that were produced at a Mars Petcare plant in Everson, Fayette County. The plant later closed.

Experts say the children may have been infected by touching the dirty pet food dishes, and then putting their hand in their mouth.

Dry pet foods are an under-recognized source of salmonella infections in humans, and it's likely other illnesses since then were unknowingly caused by tainted pet food, said Casey Barton Behravesh, the report's lead author and a researcher at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although that outbreak was contained, parents should keep young children away from pet food dishes. At least six unrelated pet food recalls have been issued this year by manufacturers because of possible salmonella contamination, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Symptoms included bloody diarrhea and fever. At least 11 people were hospitalized; none died in the 2006-2008 outbreak.

There were no reports of sick animals but investigators found salmonella bacteria in stool samples from pets without symptoms who ate the contaminated food.

To keep children safe, experts recommend washing hands after touching pets, pet food and bowls; keeping the pet bowl area clean, keeping children under age 5 away from pet bowls and cleaning pets' dishes in a separate sink or tub, not in the kitchen or bathtub.

Girls age 5 to 12 years old are invited to take part in the Bethlehem Township Community Center's Radio Disney Dancemania from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday.

At the high energy camp, girls will leanr fun and funky dance moves to perform to Radio Disney songs. Each dancer receives an official Dancemania t-shirt for a poolside performance at 12:30 p.m. all participants also get pizza and drinks for lunch. The cost is $30.

The center also is having a free story time at 9 a.m. Friday celebrating Summer. Children can hear the book "The Night Before Summer Vacation" by Natasha Wing.

For information contact the Center, at 2900 Farmersville Road or call 610-332-1900. www.btcenter.org)

The train ride effectively recreates the story of a little boy’s visit to Santa in the popular book “The Polar Express” written by Chris Van Allsburg.

During the ride, the story is read over the intercom and then all kids are served hot chocolate and cookies, just like the kids in the book. Finally Santa visits with all the children to give them a special bell. Kids are encouraged to wear their pajamas. (Parents who wear pajama, also will get hot chocolate and cookies!) Kids even get special punches on their tickets. My son really loved this ride and it’s best if you go at night, although there are 2 p.m. rides for those little ones afraid of the dark. Snow is an added bonus although not guaranteed.

The ride departs on Nov. 27 and 28, Dec.4, 5, 11, 12, 18 and 19 from Lehigh Junction located in the Historic Main Street area of Phillipsburg New Jersey. Trips leaves at 2, 4, 6, and 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 2, 4 and 6 p.m. om Sundays.

Tickets are $18 for children age 3-12 and $24 for adults. Info: 877-train-ride

The meal has an “entire day’s worth of calories for a full-grown adult,” Zinczenko says.

Instead he recommends kids order Friendly’s “Grilled Cheese With Mandarin Oranges, 1% Milk, and a Double Shot Cone,” at only 800 calories (whichs till sounds like a lot of calories for a kid.)

He continues if you pass on the dessert, “ your child suddenly has a reasonable 530-calorie entree.”

And now Denny's is set to launch its calorie-laden Fried Cheese Melt made of "four fried mozzarella sticks and melted American cheese grilled between two slices of sourdough bread. It is served with French fries and a side of marinara sauce."

Although not marketed directly at kids, it's still something that kids may be attracted to and the restaurant already has the second spot on Zinczenko's list of unhealthiest kids meals.

Although I don’t really go to many of these chains, I can recommend one of my favorite local kids’ meals. At Brew Works, my son loves the grilled chicken with rice and fresh vegetables. I’ve tasted it myself and it’s a nice simple grilled breast with vegetable that include broccoli and carrots (That aren't overcooked!)

Here are Zinczenko’s five unhealthiest kids' meals in America, and the healthier option he suggest you choose instead. All of these resaurants are in the Lehigh Valley, so moms beware.

We spent our second day at Musikfest Tuesday. This time I parked just off of Delaware Ave. and we walked across the Hill-to-Hill Bridge to Musikfest. Great views from the bridge. I hadn't walked across the bridge since my college days!

We first went to see Seamus Kennedy at Volksplatz. Seamus often does a kid-friendly set with some of his children's songs at his early shows and this was a mix of kids stuff and adult stuff. My son got to stand up front with a bunch of other kids to do the hand motions to "The Unicorn Song." Recently we've been reading Shel Silverstein's collection of poetry at night and my son was excited to find the original poem that inspired the song in Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends." I had never realized Silverstein wrote the words to the song. Of course, also at Seamus' set, my son learned a new song to the tune of "Do-Re-Mi" entirwely about beer. When we got home, he had to sing the song which includes lines like "Dough, the stuff that buys me beer" and "Tea, no thanks, I'll have a beer," for his dad (an admitted fan of beer).

We then headed to Banana Island for Key Wilde and Mr. Clarke who performed a fun set of punk-flavored kids songs accompanied by a slide show of Wilde's inventive illutrations. My son's favorite was "Rattlin' Can" a take on the cumulative folk song "The Rattlin' Bog" and which went all the way down to atoms, protons and quarks, to his delight (complete with illustrations.) Kudos also to the group's drummer who used to perform with Cirque du Soleil and did some fancy juggling as well as drumming.

After winning three Silly Bandz at the Commonwealth Academy table we headed across the bridge and watched Banana Factory artists making hot glass, and then up to the Smithy where we learned how chains are forged. After two hot demonstartions we ended the night watching another busker performance on Main Street before heading home.

We spent our second day at Musikfest Tuesday. This time I parked just off of Delaware Ave. and we walked across the Hill-to-Hill Bridge to Musikfest. Great views from the bridge. I hadn't walked across the bridge since my college days!

We first went to see Seamus Kennedy at Volksplatz. Seamus often does a kid-friendly set with some of his children's songs at his early shows and this was a mix of kids stuff and adult stuff. My son got to stand up front with a bunch of other kids to do the hand motions to "The Unicorn Song." Recently we've been reading Shel Silverstein's collection of poetry at night and my son was excited to find the original poem that inspired the song in Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends." I had never realized Silverstein wrote the words to the song. Of course, also at Seamus' set, my son learned a new song to the tune of "Do-Re-Mi" entirwely about beer. When we got home, he had to sing the song which includes lines like "Dough, the stuff that buys me beer" and "Tea, no thanks, I'll have a beer," for his dad (an admitted fan of beer).

We then headed to Banana Island for Key Wilde and Mr. Clarke who performed a fun set of punk-flavored kids songs accompanied by a slide show of Wilde's inventive illutrations. My son's favorite was "Rattlin' Can" a take on the cumulative folk song "The Rattlin' Bog" and which went all the way down to atoms, protons and quarks, to his delight (complete with illustrations.) Kudos also to the group's drummer who used to perform with Cirque du Soleil and did some fancy juggling as well as drumming.

After winning three Silly Bandz at the Commonwealth Academy table we headed across the bridge and watched Banana Factory artists making hot glass, and then up to the Smithy where we learned how chains are forged. After two hot demonstartions we ended the night watching another busker performance on Main Street before heading home.

I got this list of local agencies that will be giving away backpacks and school supplies to needy students who live in Lehigh County, from my school and thought I'd share it.

From 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 17, The Government Center, 17 S. 7th St., Allentown Rooms 43A and 43B, will be giving out second hand clothing for all family members in infants through adult sizes as well as a limited amount of school supplies. Children must be present to receive school supplies.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 21, The Salvation Army, 144 N. 8th St. Allentown will be having a “Back to School Carnival” with lots of fun and games. Children must be present to receive backpacks and school supplies.

From 10 a.m. to noon, Aug. 27, St. Luke’s Neighborhood Center, 435 N. 7th St., Allentown will be having a back pack giveaway. Child must be present.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 29, Sunday, Resurrected Life Community Church, 144 N. 9th St., Allentown will be having a “Back to School Bash”. Bring lawn chairs and enjoy a day of worship and fellowship. Free back to school haircuts and back packs will be given. Children must be present.

As a teen musician, New Jersey-based Key Wilde developed a passion for the twangy sound of bluegrass. In New York City, he met the British-born Mr. Clarke who played in a punk rock band and an unlikely partnership was forged.

"We complimented each other," Wilde says. "We started playing together and writing songs together."

Now 20 years later, Key Wilde and Mr. Clark are still working together crafting smart and catchy tunes for the younger set with "Rise and Shine," the pair's debut kids CD. The duo will play at Musikfest at noon and 3 p.m Tuesday at Banana Island.

Wilde says he first played for kids when his now 13-year-old daughter was in preschool.

"When I volunteered I brought along my guitar and sang to them," he says. "I found they responded more to stuff I made up."

Wilde says the kids were "a great audience," and he urged his dubious musical partner, who doesn't have children of his own, to give it a try.

"I had to get him interested in playing for kids," Wilde says. "After my kids were born I couldn't stay out in bars until 2 a.m."

Their first concert was at Wilde's daughter's preschool graduation where the pair was a hit with the toddler set.

"We started doing more and more and now it's pretty much all we do," Wilde says.

Wilde says most of the songs are about "characters" such as the "big pig" that the music brings to life. He accompanies the songs with his fanciful illustrations.

"I just try to write fun songs, not songs for kids," Wilde says. "I've learned you don't talk down to kids."

Now the whole Wilde family gets into the act. His daughter runs the slide show and his four-year-old son gets on stage with dad.

On Sunday Dorney Park announced it will renovate Camp Snoopy into Planet Snoopy, but just what does that mean? The new $8 million makeover of Camp Snoopy reportedly will give Dorney the largest collection of kids' rides on the East Coast.

Dorney released a drawing of the map of the new 3.5 acre kiddie area and after looking over it and doing some investigating of kid's rides at other Cedar Fair parks, it look like it will be a pretty decent enhancement of the park for the little ones.

The upper portion of Camp Snoopy will remain pretty much the same with some "re-theming." Staying in the section nearest the carousel are the Camp Bus; Charlie Brown’s Swing, a mini Wave Swinger; the Flying Ace, a small version of the Sea Dragon; Little Convoy cars; Wagon Wheel mini ferris wheel; Woodstock’s Airmail, the pint-sized free fall ride and Whirlybirds helicopters.

The lower section will change considerably with the addition of seven new rides. But it appears the only rides that will be taken away are the Birdbath water squirts and the Pumpkin patch, a glorified slide. The area actually had a lot of under-utilized space with two playground structures, a simple playhouse, a stone pit with manual diggers, the old small stage and some various buildings.

It looks like the Peanuts Showplace Amphitheater will replace the stone pit and diggers. Apparently the Woodstock Express kiddie coaster will stay but the giant tree where you can see your photos will be torn down for the Linus Launcher, a ride that lets kids lay down as if in a hang glider. My son loves this type of ride so this will be a plus for us. Other rides planned in the area are the Peanuts 500, in which kids speed stock cars around a speedway; Woodstock's Whirlwinds, a tea cup ride; Snoopy's Junction, a train ride in which kids ride in individual train cars and Fire Chief, which I imagine is a standard fire engine kiddie ride. The other interesting sounding new ride is Snoopy's Sky Ride, which appears to be like the sky ride at Kings Island, one of the park's most popular children's rides in which they can pedal individual cars around a monorail track high above the ground.

Also, the Flying AceBalloon Race will replace the current Balloon Race ride. Not sure why they're doing this. I guess because the new ride is bigger.

All in all, it sounds like they're adding some interesting new kiddie rides. A lot of that area was wasted space that will definitely be better used with the new rides. I'm looking forward to Planet Snoopy.

Musikfest has always had its kid-centric' platz but this year there seems to be more than ever for children at the annual music festival.

My son and I spent Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. at Musikfest and and I literally had to drag him home even though we were both exhausted. I parked on the southside and we walked over the Fahy Bridge, the first time we had ever done that and my son marvelled at how shallow the Lehigh looks from the bridge. We kicked off with a spin at the Hawk's gambling machine (only for adults) and I got a bag of cheese curls which he happily munched while we watched Boyinthe shade. He enjoyed the band's poppy tunes, green-lyrics and behind the band video screen. The highlight for him was dancing in front of the stage so he could see himself on the screen.

Then we headed to the PNC Growing up Great kiosk where he got his picture taken with a soccer ball against a green screen so they could import a soccer background. It was very cool. We headed to the Ice House where Da Vinci Center demonstrated property's of the -300 degree liquid nitrogen and even made ice cream for the kids with the smoking liquid.

Uncle Rock's performance at Banana Island was another highlight. My son learnred to pogo and do the windmill on air guitar, belted out Yellow Submarine and left singing Magic Carpet Ride, which Uncle Rock covered for the new Putumayo compilation "Rock and Roll Playgournd."

Next we headed out on the Musikfest scavenger hunt for the pictures of musical instruments and along the way, played a game of "Little Big Planet" at the PS3 trailer, ate some free humus and pita chips at Sabra.com and then stopped to watch the masked performer for Cast in Bronze.

We ended the day on Main Street watching Lindsay Benner one of the buskers who did an act that culminated with her juggling flaming batons while standing on two volunteer's shoulders.

It was a ton of entertainment and the best part was I only spent $5 in tickets. We brough water which I filled at the water fountain (and was supplemented by free Coke Zero samples) and got enough freebies that we didn't get hungry.

Kids can be one of the hundreds who will visit Dorney Park in South Whitehall Township on Sunday to sing Happy Birthday to everyone favorite's beagle. From 1 to 2 p.m. in the park's Camp Snoopy, families are invited to watch as of kids sing to celebrate Snoopy's 60th birthday and Snoopy unwraps a giant gift. Park officials say the gift is an $8 million surprise, maybe a new ride or other expansion to the park?

Officials from Dorney Park will be joined by Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and Sally, as well as the birthday beagle himself.

This year is the 60th anniversary of Snoopy and the Peanuts Gang. Charles M. Schulz created the beloved comic in 1950. Snoopy and the gang have been a part of Dorney Park since Camp Snoopy was created in 2000.
Last year the park put Snoopy and the others on ice with a new ice show that runs daily.

The park has been celebrating all season with posters that show how the appearance of the cartoon characters have changed over their 60 years (although they haven't aged!)

The story of a 7-year-old Wisconsin boy whose random act of kindness inspired others to do the same is burning up the Internet.

It all started when young Joshua Thorson decided to put his $1 allowance on a random person’s windshield with a note.

Jim Pfifer found the mony and the note which read "This is a dollar I made doing my chores and I wanted to do something special with it, so I'm giving it to you. God loves you. My name is Joshua, I'm 7 years old".

Touched, Pfifer donated the $1, along with $10 of his own, to the YMCA's Strong Kids campaign, and later when he told the story at a fundraiser, donations totalling $3,000 poured in, all because of one young child’s generosity.

His mother reportedly suggested after he cleaned his playroom, he give his allowance to someone else to learn a lesson about doing something nice without any expectations.

So when I got an e-mail about The Great Kindness Challenge presented by Kids for Peace, it seemed like a great way to introduce kids to the idea of random acts of kindness.

Next Satuurday, Aug. 14, the group hopes to get more than one million children around the world performing as many acts of kindness as possible from sunup to sundown. The goal is to inspire children to a lifelong commitment to service and kindness.

The site even offers a Great Kindness Challenge Checklist, which features 50 acts of kindness to choose from and includes acts ranging from simply smiling at 25 people, donating food to a food shelter, having a lemonade stand to raise money for a good cause, picking up trash or planting a tree. Click here to download the checklist. I downloaded it and we’re going to try to do some of the things on the list. As the sites says even the simplest acts can make a big difference in someone's life. And you just might be amazed at how fun it can be.

A couple of new musical acts, more crafts and more involvement from family-friendly community organizations will greet families at Banana Island and in the nearby Charles Brown Ice House in Bethlehem during Musikfest Aug. 6-15.

New family musical acts at Banana Island include the singing and signing Nina Music, acclaimed kindie duo Key Wilde and Mr. Clarke, Bucks-Montgomery band Peanut Butter Jellyfish and Alex & the Kaleidoscope Band.

In addition to music, kids can decorate Musikfest stickers, make circus masks, flower wristbands, undersea headbands and other wearable crafts at the Banana Island arts tent staffed by Banana Factory artists. Although the music switches to adult offerings at 6 p.m., the crafts continue until 8 p.m.Returning is the Musikal Treasure Hunt, in which kids can find musical clues across the festival grounds and then pick a prize out of the treasure chest at Banana Island.

A booth at Main and Lehigh streets will feature community groups, including the America on Wheels museum featuring a craft Tuesday and Lehigh Valley Zoo with animals Aug. 13. KidsPeace will present kids karaoke 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Aug. 14.

On Aug. 14, kids can make penguin puppets and see animals from the Lehigh Valley Zoo 1-5 p.m. in the Ice House.

Pennsylvania Youth Theatre will present the musical revue "Schoolhouse Rock Live!" based on the Emmy-award-winning Saturday morning cartoon at 7 p.m. Friday and 1 and 4 p.m. Saturday at the Ice House. Tickets are $9 and are available at the door; www.123pyt.org or call 610-332-1400.

Returning to Banana Island and Plaza Tropical are popular kids rides, including the swings, water balloons, whisper carts, rock climbing and a bungee jump, but you have to pay to go on them.Also don't miss PNC's Growing Up Great noon-6 p.m. at Banana Island on Saturday and Sunday where kids can do a craft, dress up and get their picture taken.

At Dankeplatz between the Lehigh River and Canal, families can meet costumed characters, eat snacks, make crafts and dance from noon-4 p.m. Saturday with Capitol Blue Cross’ Dancing with the Characters.If you want to escape the hustle and bustle, Lehigh & Keystone Valley Model Railroad Museum is having a special open house from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and Aug. 14 and 15 at 705 Linden Street. Info: 484-896-0400.

During the week, the Girls Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania Heritage Patrol will present a variety of craft workshops at the Mill in the Colonial Industrial Quarter. Projects include rag dolls, pottery, tin work and other 18th century crafts and will be presented at 12:45 p.m.; 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The workshops are $3.50 or $12 for three in on day which includes a snack and supervision between programs. Registration is limited to 20 children per session. Info: www.gsepheritagepatrol.com.

New performers:*Nina Music: A Poconos native, folk musician Nina Peterson was inspired by family sing-alongs with her 17 nieces and nephews to start writing music for children. She incorporates sign language and movement into her fun and educational songs for kids ages 1-7. 1:30 p.m. Monday.

*Key Wilde and Mr. Clarke: The New Jersey-based duo just released its first CD "Rise and Shine," which features quirky songs with clever lyrics and a sound that melds country rock with folk and Latin rhythms. Wilde, an illustrator of children's books as well as a musician, originally joined the British Clarke for adult music before recently embarking on kids music. Noon and 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Returning favorites:*The Cat's Pajamas: The high-energy group known for its cat ears and two-part harmony, combines puppets and props with rocking music that promotes reading. 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

*Uncle Rock: This former member of adult-band The Fleshtones, born Robert Burke Warren, plays high-energy rockabilly music that delves gently into the darker side of childhood. His fourth CD, "The Big Picture," features 12 original songs, including "My Friend Bigfoot" and "Leave the Bees Be," which are in heavy rotation on kids satellite radio. 1:30 and 3 p.m. Sunday.

*BoyintheShade: Created by two dads who wanted to bring an educational component to music for their children, the group presents a show that's a hybrid between a rock concert and theater. Griffin Haviken of New Hope, Bucks County, and Stephen Goldberg, a high school principal from Long Island, joined forces in 2006 to create a five-member rock pop group named after the fair-skinned, sun-shy Goldberg. Noon and 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

*Hot Peas 'N Butter: This duo, whose videos are featured on Nickelodeon and Noggin, uses Afro-Caribbean sounds and Spanish language to create a world rhythm vibe that gets kids up and moving. The group, which has five CDs, also joins with St. Jude's Trike-Athon, for which they wrote their Spanish language song "Rayos Diferente." 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

*Kira Willey: The Bethlehem singer-songwriter, who hit it big when her song "Colors" from her kids CD "Dance for the Sun" was featured in an ad for Dell Computers, is working on a new CD and will unveil some new tunes, including the rhumba-flavored "Dancing with my Daddy" and "Bye Bye City." She and her band will be joined on stage by Brooklyn children's recording artist Suzi Shelton. Noon and 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Do parents have the right to snoop on their kids? A recent discussion of the “Help for Families” panel indicated the experts felt some snooping was justified if parents feel there is a serious problem. But what about reading e-mails or checking text messages?

National child psychologist John Rosemond weighs in with a similar stand. He says parents should invade a child’s privacy unless “a sudden change in the child's behavior strongly suggests that something is seriously amiss.”However he also says children do not have the “right to privacy.”“Their privacy is a privilege that can be suspended at parental discretion, but said discretion should not be exercised arbitrarily,” Rosemond says.

But now a city in China is disagreeing and saying a child’s privacy trumps everything.Starting in September, parents in Chongqing, will be banned by law from checking their children's online activity and text messages.

Adults, including family members, will not be allowed to search through children's computers or phones under a regional law that was adopted on Friday. The regulation prohibits looking at email, text messages, Web chats, and browser history.

The law is designed to protect the rights of children, which is interesting since China has claimed its attempts at Internet censorship by the government were to protect young people from inappropraite content. I guess that means China thinks the government knows more about what children should look at online than their parents.

Experts in China question how effective the law will be. They say parents will continue to snoop and it’s unlikely children will take their parents to court.

An eleven-year-old told a China newspaper he did not think his mother and father would be able to access his information anyway because he is “far more Internet savvy than they are.”

This is a huge issue, and even came up last week, in the “Zits” comic strip which runs in the Morning Call. The teenage boy Jeremy left his Facebook page up on his computer and his parents discover it. They end up reading “every last post,” and learn the teen got a traffic ticket, kissed a girl they didn’t know and had posts from friends with bad language.

Knowing too well the dangers of the Internet, I feel I need to be able to monitor my son’s computer use. Law enforcement experts also encourage parents to be aware of what sites children access on the computer. My son doesn't yet have a cell phone so I haven’t had to deal with text messages yet, but I think I would agree with the “Help for Families” panel and Rosemond, that a child should have privacy unless parents suspect some problem is brewing.

We’ve all heard of identity fraud. But what if the victim of the crime was totally unaware and would remain clueless for many years because they were still in kindergarten? According to a new AP report, the newest target for identity theft is young children who have social security numbers but are many years away from opening bank accounts or using credit.

The report said online businesses are using computers to find so-called dormant social security numbers, those assigned to children who don't use them, and then selling them to people who establish phony credit and run up huge debts.

Young children, most of whom get social security numbers shortly after birth, have no spending history and are like blank slates for credit. Thieves prefer them because they are active Social Security numbers but aren’t on file with with credit bureaus. And while credit bureaus can quickly identify numbers taken from dead people through the social security death index, misuse of children’s social security numbers is much harder to detect. In one case, a teenager didn’t discover the identity theft until he applied for a driver’s license.

However there are precautions parents can take to protect their kids.

1. Request a free copy of your child’s credit report here.You shouldn’t be able to get one. If something is there, investigate. If your child is under age 13, you will have to request a copy in writing. Find instructions here.

3. Don’t give out your child’s social security number. If you open a savings account, open it under your own social security number and make your child as the account holder. Don't give your child's social security number to achool. According to the PA Department of Education, a public school or charter school can’t require a child’s social security number for enrollment.

4. Check your child’s mail. If he starts getting unusual items such as credit card applications or collection notices, there may be something wrong.

5. Don’t post personal information about your child on family web sites, Facebook pages or anywhere online. educate your child about being safe online and not giving out any personal information.

If you think someone has stolen your child’s identity, check with one of the credit bureaus Experian, TransUnion or Equifax, and alert police.

In recognition of World Breastfeeding Week this week, nationally know lactation consultant Shari Criso is streaming her full-length breastfeeding DVD program free on her website.

Criso, a labor and delivery nurse turned midwife, delivered more than 600 babies, but decided after having her own daughters to focus on helping new moms with breastfeeding. For the past seven years, she has been a lactation consultant based in New Jersey.

Her goal is to reach at least 10,000 new and expecting parents and educate them on breastfeeding by September 30.

Criso has been selling the award-winning hour and a half DVD “Simply Breastfeeding: The Criso Breastfeeding Method” for $29.95, but decided to offer it for free for two months.

"I believe that parents should have access to quality education regardless of their location and ability to pay", she says.

Expectant moms can watch the complete video online after a short free registration. It also includes free download of her 18-page work book. After viewing the first two chapters, it seems like a very informative and useful resource.

In her introduction, Criso talks about the lack of education on breastfeeding for pregnant women. She says when she earned her nursing degree, she didn’t have a single class on breastfeeding even though her specialty was labor and delivery. More surprising, Criso says when she was certified as a midwife, she still didn’t get lactation training.

“I could write prescriptions for breast infections but I never learned about proper latch,” she says.

In the video, Criso addresses latch as well as issues from engorgement, growth spurts to introducing the bottle.

Education on breastfeeding techniques is important for new moms. Experts from the American Academy of Pediatric to the World Health Organization recommend exclusive breastfeeding for newborns.

When I had my son, I had no instruction in breastfeeding, and I struggled, particularly when my son went on a nursing strike, when I returned to work. I sought advice and, fortunately, was able to get through the strike and successfully nurse my son.

Saturday, I took my son to see "Shakespeare for Kids" at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival in Center Valley. The show is designed to introduce children to Shakespeare in general, and specifically to "Romeo and Juliet," which is also being performed during the festival.

On Sunday I got to see how well he was prepared when we went to see the actual performance of "Romeo and Juliet." S4K had given him the basic plot, as well as raised some questions about the tragic final scene, and he was excited about seeing the show.

If you're going to take a child to experience Shakespeare, you can't do much better than PA Shakespeare Festival. The production had plenty of physical comedy which engaged my third grader, as well as excitement in the form of the well choreographed fight scenes.

The main characters who are all supposed to be young adults or teens, acted not unlike typical teenagers. The slight awkwardness, the bravado and dramatics made the characters seem realistic to someone who knows teenagers (and looks up to them a bit.) The taunting, chest bumping and teasing all range true and the flowery words of the Bard seemed to flow naturally off their tongues. Both leads were attractive and engaging. David Kenner as Romeo reminded me a bit of a young Leonardo DiCaprio (who played the role in Baz Lurmann's stylized movie Romeo + Juliet) and Besty Mugavero actually looked like she could've been 13 in her first scene. A creative dream sequence set to Prince's "Kiss" when Romeo meets Juliet was definitely a hit with my son.

I wouldn't say my son listened intently to every word, but he was able to follow the plot with minimal questions. At intermission, he was invested enough in the story to ask me 'What is Juliet going to say when she finds out Romeo killed her cousin?'

During the second act, as the action sped to its unavoidable conclusion, my son watched intently as they final tragic scene played out and then applauded enthusiastically at the curtain call. Afterwards I asked him if the play made him sad. He said "a little, but I knew it was a story." He said he liked it and on the way out, asked me if I could get him the graphic novel version of the play.

Last year Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival debuted Shakespeare for Kids, a new concept to painlessly introduce young children to the stories and language of Shakespeare. Last year’s debut installment deconstructed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the most child-friendly of the Bard’s plays.

This year S4K (the show’s text speak nickname,) tackled Shakespeare’s most famous tragic romance, “Romeo and Juliet.”

It’s a good way to introduce youngsters to the epic story which is a part of so much of our pop culture from the “Romeo and Juliet” inspired musical “West Side Story,” to “Love story,” Taylor Swift’s pop song of separated sweethearts.

The storyline of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers is more straightforward than the convoluted connections in “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” so the job of the three capable actors of Team Shakespeare is more about making a tragic love story that ends with multiple suicides and a fatal duel, understandable to children.

The trio of Michael Gill, Andrew Kane and Chelsea Anne Carle are engaging and immediately connect with children as they break through the third wall to talk directly to the audience. Kane who mugs and twists his tall lanky body into all sorts of silly shapes, makes a perfect comedy foil and represents every child, While the exasperated Gill and Carle (the parents?) try to keep the hour-long story moving.

The three explain in simple terms that Shakespeare wrote both comedies to make audiences laugh and tragedies to teach audiences lessons. The lesson in “Romeo and Juliet,” they tell the kids is to love one another.

Using actual dialogue from some of the most famous scenes and aided by sock puppets, they portray the main characters. As they recite Shakespeare’s poetic language, they translate the ideas into easy-to-understand prose.

Modern references from the musician Prince to Facebook help make the words of the 16th century playwright more relevant to kids. Unfamiliar household roles, such as Juliet’s nurse, is equated to a nanny, with a nod to TV’s “Super Nanny.”

Periodically the actors pick up their guitars and recap the events in a simple sing-along that starts with “Juliet was a Capulet, Her family held a grudge.”

Half way through, the kids are led in a “Shakespearean Hokey Pokey,” which has the dual purpose of getting the wiggles out of restless kids and exposing them in a light-hearted way to Shakespeare’s formal style of speech through lyrics including “Put they left hand out.”

Audience interaction is encouraged, as well as paying attention, with a super secret Shakespearean word of the day, which kids must listen for and then yell when they hear it.

The death scene is compared to the “Beauty and the Beast” scene in which the beast nearly dies, to help kids understand without being too grim. The violence of Juliet’s final scene is mitigated when Carles is forced to do the scene with a rubber chicken instead of a dagger.

The show ends on a decidedly sunny note with the cast singing “Tomorrow” from “Annie.” It’s a more upbeat ending than Shakespeare intended, but appropriate for the age range.